Mr. Zhao Jianshe from Shandong Province Has Suffered Numerous Tortures for Five Years in the Jiangsu Prison

16 August 2008

In June of 2003, Mr. Zhao Jianshe, a Falun Gong practitioner from Weifang City, Shandong Province, was arrested by the Communist authorities when he was exposing the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong to people in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province. He was sentenced to jail for nine years by the Court of Nanjing City, and was put in the Jiangsu Prison where he has suffered tortures for more than five years. According to reliable sources, Mr. Zhao was detained in a solitary confinement cell, and his weight dropped from 80 kilograms (175 lbs) to 50 kg (110 lbs).

Mr. Zhao protested the persecution by going on hunger strike starting from his first day in the detention centre. He never cooperated with the villainous police, and the phrase, "Falun Gong is good" was heard wherever he went. Since he was transferred to the City Detention Centre, Mr. Zhao has been force-fed and forced to sit on a Tiger Bench1 twice a day. The police forcibly inserted a tube the size of a finger into his nose, and poured over a kilogram of liquid food into his stomach. The liquid food contained drugs that could damage the central nervous system. After each force-feeding, Mr. Zhao felt a hard bulge in his stomach, and his stools were black. Because of the torture, Mr. Zhao lost the ability to walk, and he had to use a wheelchair.

During his arraignment, in spite of the police's beating, kicking, and verbal abuse, Mr. Zhao remained calm. Seeing that Mr. Zhao was not wavering, the 610 Office2 police used a more brutal way to torture him. They hung him up and partially submerged him in an ice-cold water dungeon. He felt a stabbing pain and itch after he was released. The police also forced him to sit on the ground with his legs straight, and they viciously beat him, resulting in bruises all over his body. Mr. Zhao was tortured to the verge of death, and he had to be carried into court for the trial.

Before the Chinese New Year in 2004, Mr. Zhao was sent to the Wuxi Prison. He went on a hunger strike to protest his persecution, and informed people about the true nature of Falun Gong wherever he went. The police labelled Mr. Zhao as someone with mental illness [a common Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tactic to persecute people], and forcibly sent him to the Liyang Prison Hospital where he suffered further persecution. They subjected him to the"electro-acupuncture" torture, in which he was tied to a bed, and an electric needle, which was connected to a computer, was plugged into his neck, causing incontinence. Although he became very weak after the torture. At last, the police exhausted all their torture methods, and sent him back to the Wuxi Prison. He was tied to a bed, and prisoners took turns monitoring him.

Facing the brainwashing and harassment from the police in the 610 Office, Mr. Zhao remained calm, and patiently clarified the truth to them. Many prisoners and police admired him for his perseverance and strong will. They learned the truth about the persecution, and now know that Falun DGong is good.

Mr. Zhao Jianshe is also known as Zhao Yougang. His wife passed away in 1998, and left behind a 2-month-old daughter. No one from the prison had notified Mr. Zhao's family since he was sentenced to nine years in jail. His little daughter and elderly parents were left with no one to take care of them.

The Nanjing Public Security Bureau and the Wuxi Prison attempted to use Mr. Zhao's daughter and elderly parents to force him to compromise with the Communist authorities, but to no avail.

We hope that people will show concern for Mr. Zhao's situation. We also call on international human rights organizations to help get him released from prison soon.

Note

1. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

2. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.